With new head coach Carl Robinson at the helm, the Vancouver Whitecaps will look to get back into the MLS Western Conference playoff picture. TSN soccer analyst Luke Wileman tells you everything you need to know about the 2014 Whitecaps, while TSN soccer analyst Jason deVos tells you how they will succeed or fail during the new campaign. Luke Wileman: After missing out on the playoffs in 2013, Vancouver Whitecaps have re-tooled ahead of the new season. They lost their leading scorer, Camilo, in controversial circumstances, but the Caps will enter the 2014 season with a stronger overall squad. The biggest change of the offseason was the departure of head coach Martin Rennie. After two years with the club, Rennies contract was not renewed, and after a long search, the Whitecaps promoted Carl Robinson from his role as assistant coach to take the top job. I said at the time that Robinson was the perfect choice. He already knew the inner workings of the club from his time on Rennies coaching staff, but has brought a fresh outlook. Robinson is heading into his rookie season as a head coach, and it will be a steep learning curve, but theres little doubt he is ready for the task ahead. The way he handled difficult situations during the offseason was superb, and his leadership and communication with players through preseason has earned him plenty of respect within the locker room. So what can we expect from Robinsons team? The Whitecaps coach has made no secret of the fact that he wants to play an attractive entertaining style of soccer. He has also said he wont be afraid to give youth a chance. Robinsons squad is young, but with experience in key areas throughout the team. In fact there is a strong veteran presence down the spine of the team with David Ousted in goal, Jay DeMerit and Andy OBrien at the back, Nigel Reo Coker in midfield and Kenny Miller up front. The Whitecaps have made some strong additions in the offseason but the biggest question mark is whether they will be able to replace the league-leading 22 goals scored by Camilo. There wont be one person who shoulders the responsibility of filling the void left by the Brazilian, it will need to be a team effort, and the way the squad has been built should help that to happen. Uruguyan duo Sebastian Fernandez and Nicolas Mezquida have shown evidence of their creativity and technical ability during preseason, and the expected arrival of Chilean attacking midfielder Pedro Morales from Spanish side Malaga will be a massive piece of the puzzle. Vancouver already has quality in attack. Keeping Kenny Miller fit is key for the Caps. It will also be interesting to see the development of youngsters Kekuta Manneh, Darren Mattocks, Erik Hurtado, Omar Salgado and Russell Teibert. All five of those players have the ability to contribute significantly to the Whitecaps attacking play. The Whitecaps added former MLS All-Star Steven Beitashour at right back to replace the retired YP Lee and have options in the central defensive positions with DeMerit and OBrien likely to be favoured to open the season, but Carlyle Mitchell, Johnny Leveron and draft pick Christian Dean all capable of stepping in at any time. With Carl Robinson likely to play a 4-2-3-1 formation, the two defensive midfield players will need to protect the back four but also start a lot of the Whitecaps play moving forward. On his day, Nigel Reo-Coker can be one of the top midfielders in the league, but Robinson will want to see more consistency from the Englishman this season dictating the play and getting box to box. One of the Whitecaps big offseason additions was young Argentine midfielder Matias Laba who arrived from Toronto FC. Hes a superb signing who will complement the qualities of Reo Coker. Laba is a destroyer. He breaks up the play and gets it going again in an effective manner. The defensive midfield pairing of Reo Coker and Laba could be particularly strong for the Whitecaps this season. Despite my view that the overall squad is better than a year ago, the Whitecaps wont find it easy to achieve their goal of making the playoffs in a Western Conference that is packed with quality. Last year, Vancouver improved on their points total from a year earlier, but didnt make it to the postseason. They improved, but not enough because the other teams around them had made bigger strides. This time around, the Whitecaps have made some significant changes. It might take them time to settle into their new identity, but it should be a fun ride. TSN Soccer analyst Jason deVos weighs in on how the Whitecaps will succeed or fail during the 2014 season. Jason deVos: Vancouver Whitecaps will succeed if… …the young guns come out firing. Rookie head coach Carl Robinson has a squad full of talented youngsters. Russell Teibert, Kekuta Manneh, Gershon Koffie, Omar Salgado, Darren Mattocks, Nicolás Mezquida, Matías Laba, Erik Hurtado, Andre Lewis and Sam Adekugbe are all under the age of 23. With youth comes inconsistency; an amazing performance one week, followed up by a flat one the next. If Robinson can get the young players to find a measure of consistency, the Whitecaps will fare far better than many predict this season. The reason for that is that this team is quick - and I mean, lightning fast. Mattocks, Manneh and Hurtado are whippets, and will win races against virtually every player in MLS. If the experienced players in the squad - Nigel Reo-Coker, Andy OBrien and Jay DeMerit - can shepherd the young players along the right path, the Whitecaps are going to surprise a few people this season. Vancouver Whitecaps will fail if… …they show up one week and not the next. Succeeding in professional soccer is all about finding a level of consistency from week to week. Reliability comes with experience - something that is severely lacking from this squad of players. The onus is on Robinson to set the standards of performance that he expects from all of his players. Experienced campaigners like Reo-Coker, OBrien and DeMerit wont be the issue - they know what they need to do to succeed in the game, and will rarely dip below a 7 out of 10 performance. It is the young players that need to learn this. They need to learn that you cannot turn it on one week, then not bother showing up the next. That will be Robinsons biggest challenge this season - getting a consistent level out of his talented crop of youngsters. If he can do that, this will be an exciting season for Whitecaps fans. If not, the Whitecaps will again fail to make the playoffs. 2013 finish: 13-12-9 (seventh in Western Conference). Did not qualify for MLS Cup playoffs. Whos In?: M Mehdi Ballouchy (Re-Entry Draft), D Steven Beitashour (traded from San Jose), M/F Sebastian Fernandez (loan from Boston River), M Matías Laba (trade from Toronto), M/F Nicolas Mezquida (transfer from Boston River), GK Paolo Tornaghi (signed). Whos Out?: GK Joe Cannon (option declined), M Jun Marques Davidson (option declined), F Tommy Heinemann (option declined), F Corey Hertzog (option declined), D Greg Klazura (option declined), GK Brad Knighton (traded to New England), M Daigo Kobayashi (option declined), D Lee Young-Pyo (retired), D Brad Rusin (option declined), F Camilo Sanvezzo (transfer to Queretaro), GK Simon Thomas (option declined). SuperDraft: D Christian Dean (1-3), MF Andre Lewis (1-7), F Mamadou Diouf (2-30). Catfish Hunter Jersey .James scored 29 points, including 16 in the first quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers broke a four-game losing streak with a 106-74 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Marcus Semien Jersey . 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The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The defending National League champions opened the season with a lot of waiting. And a couple of wins, too. The St. Louis Cardinals overcame another long delay and Todd Fraziers two homers on Thursday, holding on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 and take two of three in their season-opening series. The first pitch was delayed 3 hours, 42 minutes because of rain. Some of the Cardinals spent their down time by studying Cincinnatis pitchers again and getting a little extra work in the indoor batting cages. "Its tough to stay mentally into it," said Matt Adams, who had a single and a pair of doubles. "Thats what we had to do to make sure we could go out there and perform. Were watching video and taking swings in the cage and stretching and making sure were ready to go." Finally on the field, the Cardinals emerged from their two-game hitting slump by knocking Homer Bailey (0-1) out of the game in the fifth inning. Jhonny Peralta homered to get it going. It wasnt perfect -- St. Louis stranded eight runners -- but it was much better. "We had a lot of opportunities that we missed, too," manager Mike Matheny said. "We had a lot of guys in scoring position." St. Louis pulled away with three runs in the seventh, when Matt Hollidays single off the top of the outfield wall was upheld by the only video review of the series, this one initiated by the umpires. Lance Lynn (1-0) gave up Jay Bruces two-run homer and Fraziers solo shot during five innings. Frazier added a three-run homer in the seventh that cut it to 7-6. Trevor Rosenthal got the last four outs for his second save. The series involved nearly as much waiting as playing. There was a 2-hour, 40-minute delay before Wednesdays game, a 1-0 victory by Cincinnati. Along with the delay on Thursday, the teams wound up waiting 6 hours, 22 minutes to play during the two days. As Thursdays delay stretched on, Reds reliever Sam LeCure tweeted: "Uncle." "The whole series was kind of weird with all the rain and stuff," Frazier said. "It really put a damperr on things.dddddddddddd" The starters had a rough time after the delay. Lynn beat the Reds three times last season, but couldnt get a 1-2-3 inning on Thursday. Bruce and Frazier hit back-to-back homers in the first for a 3-0 lead. Even Bailey had a single off Lynn, who gave up eight hits while throwing 107 pitches. Peralta hit a two-run homer in the second off Bailey, and the Cardinals tied it with a breakthrough hit in the fourth. Adams doubled and came around on Jon Jays double, the Cardinals first hit with a runner in scoring position this season. They had been 0 for 17. Jays hit also extended his hitting streak to 15 games, including the end of last season. Hollidays first hit of the season, an RBI double, put the Cardinals up 4-3 in the fifth. Bailey lasted only 4 1-3 innings, giving up seven hits, three walks and four runs. The Cardinals added three in the seventh, when they loaded the bases on a pair of walks and Hollidays single off the top of the wall. The ball went over Billy Hamiltons glove and deflected to Bruce, who caught the ball. The umpires correctly ruled that it a hit off the top of the wall, and a 2-minute, 8-second review initiated by the umps upheld the call. They wanted to make sure the ball hadnt cleared the wall. Allen Craig and Yadier Molina followed with RBI singles as St. Louis pulled ahead 7-3. NOTES: The game ended 7 hours, 23 minutes after it was originally scheduled to start. ... Shelby Miller starts for the Cardinals in Pittsburgh on Friday against Gerrit Cole. Mike Leake goes for the Reds in New York against the Mets Jenrry Mejia. ... Adams dived into the stands trying to catch a foul ball, and pushed a fan who reached up and caught it before he could get it. "I was trying to stop myself from going into the stands," Adams said. "People came up to me and said I shoved him. I didnt even know. Im not that type of guy to go after anybody." ... It was Fraziers fourth career multihomer game. ... Hamilton walked in the eighth inning, reaching base for the first time this season. He is 0 for 12 with six strikeouts. Cheap NFL JerseysWholesale JerseysWholesale NFL JerseysJerseys From ChinaWholesale NFL JerseysCheap NFL JerseysCheap Jerseys ' ' '